In order to actually review this book, one has to separate the story from the writing. The story itself is impactful and crushing: a small girl's tale of her experience under the Khmer Rouge, from the day they evacuate the capital city of Phnom Penh, to being flown to the US as a refugee. Her memories are detailed, the emotions raw and honest, and the events heartbreaking. Him writes with a clear head and a great deal of restraint. She never plunges too deep into regret or hysteria. In fact, I was often shocked at how unemotionally she was able to deliver some of her experiences. It read like a cross between a memoir and a historical account; I felt like I learned a lot about the actual events, the timeline, the behavior of the KR, the constant movement from camp to camp, etc. Sometimes these larger structures are left out of war memoirs in lieu of heartrending anecdotes. I think she did a great job balancing the two.

In terms of writing, however, it was not the best. I am sure Him had support from editors, etc. but sometimes her plain style got a little boring or a little primitive even. This is the second or third Khmer Rouge memoir I have read, and it was my least favorite. I also thought it was really hard to keep track of characters, since she boils down each of her siblings' names to two or three letters, and while that is the norm in Cambodia, it was a challenge to remember who was who, and thus feel the full impact of the events in their lives.

I am glad that I read it, and hope to use it as a complementary text with my students one day when we decide they are ready to study the Khmer Rouge regime. If you have never heard of the KR, or just want to brush up on what happened, this is a good place to start.

Such a sad story,so many emotions!

Heavy and depressing, not many books make me cry. Still I could not put it down. If you really want to know more about life under the Khmer Rouge and the genocide that occurred in the 70s, read this book.

Thought it was a depressing if enlightening true-to-life book until I heard that many Cambodians do not appreciate the author’s self-serving outlook. Apparently there were rumors that she’d appropriated some of the more harrowing tales for herself rather than just telling her own original story. This made sense stylistically, since some of the writing is so detached as to sound like it really was someone else’s words. The story of the Khmer Rhouge soldier getting beaten by an angry mob sounded true until the author did a staredown move ... with no follow-up or resolution. What was the purpose of the staring contest? ‘You’re beaten and you know it?’ ‘You can never hold up your head again because you and your idealistic agrarian reform regime turned into greedy self-serving oppression’? Nothing. This book could have been powerful if it were more genuine, and I certainly wish that more refugees wrote books about their experiences (I don’t blame them for not doing so). But this book was ultimately a disappointment.

"It's only been about eight hours since I first encountered war, but already I am beginning to worry like an adult... Oh, how much I want to tell Pa that I'm scared, but I'm even too scared to tell him this. I've learned from grown-ups that you don't think about or say terrible things or else they will come true."

In this memoir, Chanrithy Him writes about her childhood during the Khmer Rouge regime. It's a well-written and at times shockingly detailed recounting of her experiences. It should come as no shock that the book is fairly heavy and depressing. But it's an important and necessary story from a survivor.

Him focuses more on her country's culture than many others similar books I've read, using Cambodian proverbs, terms, and phrases throughout (usually translated into English for the reader's benefit). While I appreciated this and felt it made the book all the more true-to-experience and immersive, I personally found it a little confusing at times, particularly because Chanrithy (nicknamed Athy or Thy) had nine siblings and many relatives and family friends, all of whom went by various nicknames and titles.

Related Reads:
First They Killed My Father (Ung)
Children of the River (Crew)

Chanrithy Him writes a powerful story of her life as a child in Cambodia during the terror reign of the Khmer Rouge. My childhood was such a complete joy compared to the lives of Thy and her siblings. I can’t even begin to understand her struggle in revisiting these memories and putting them down for all to see. I’m amazed at her ability to tell the story to make it seem as I am right there.

This is not a light topic, it is disturbing and tragic at times. I do wish there could have been a better outcome for some of her family, I had no idea of the suffering and evil that some people have to live, and try to survive through.

One can read history - names and dates and numbers - but to truly understand, it is better to get into the lives of those who lived that history. This book does that.

I've just read a book on same subject by Loung Ung called, "First They Killed My Father", so I can't help comparing the two memoirs. In my opinion, overall, Chanrithy has had better life under Khmer Rouge than Loung had. Although her family was similarly perished, I did not see rage and hatred on Khmer Rouge in her as seen on Loung Ung. However, Chanrithy's path towards immigration to America seemed more winding than Loung's, more complicated by works of his annoying brother-in-law. All in all, Khmer Rouge's atrocities knows no limits, yet there were still some of them who can show a glimpse of kindness and defiance towards the all-powerful Angkar in smallest way possible, which counted towards the survival of Chanrithy and her remaining members of family.

A harrowing tale of surviving the Khmer Rouge and becoming a refugee. I liked that Him included some political and cultural background to how they were able to ascend to power and how at odds the Khmer Rouge was to Cambodian traditional culture and language. An interesting and fundamentally sad read - may the world intervene more when individuals are robbed of their families and freedom.

n  n    “Khmer Rouge are a continent away, and yet they are not. Psychologically, they are parasites, like tapeworms that slumber within you, living passively until something stirs them to life. I was asking these subjects to wake those parasites.”n  n

In When Broken Glass Floats, Chanrithy Him describes her experiences with the Khmer Rouge, the communist group that took over Cambodia from 1975-1979, graphically. The Khmer Rouge left a wake of death and destruction all throughout Cambodia. The memories she describes are vivid and readers are able to feel the pain that a 5 year old girl felt.

Him’s family of 12 was separated and forced into labor camps, where they faced death and illness. Only 5 members of her family will make it out alive. The Khmer Rouge “evacuated” Cambodia’s cities, nullified their markets, and executed anyone they believed to be an intellectual. Children were forced to watch people be cut open so the Khmer Rouge could eat their livers. Him and her family ate anything they could find, even scorpions. Pregnant women were executed. Children’s heads were blown off. Once Cambodia was liberated, an estimated 2 million Cambodians had lost their lives in the killing fields. Most of the nation had been orphaned.

Throughout all the struggles and losses that Chanrithy Him faced, she was able to push through and eventually, with the support of her uncle in Oregon, moved away from the place she had faced so much neglect. When Broken Glass Floats shows the great resilience of the Cambodian people through what was likely one of the worst times of their lives. Despite the attempts to live lives without the Khmer Rouge haunting her, Him has suffered from PTSD and continues to feel the shadow of those long, gruesome years.

n  n    “The cost of war is a lifelong legacy borne by children.”n  n

As someone who doesn’t normally read nonfiction, I enjoyed this memoir. It wasn’t boring and it didn’t just state random facts that no one really cares about. Him integrates emotion to reach her readers. She shows that despite the people you’ve lost, you should continue to move forward and make your life the best it can be.

Him recounts her traumas that she faced during the four years the Khmer Rouge stayed in power. However, she explains that despite her traumas, there’s still triumph in spirit and human connection. Her message is powerful to anyone who has undergone a traumatic experience, especially if they feel that they’ve come out weaker or lesser than before.

Reading Him’s memoir helps you put the life of refugees into perspective. As someone who has never experienced having to flee a country, it was good for me to be able to read about someone who had no choice but to leave. It’s heartbreaking to read someone go through so much at such a young age.

When Broken Glass Floats didn’t try to make me see things a certain way or change my opinion on anything. It simply told me the point of view of a young girl facing horrible atrocities. Reading Cambodia’s experiences with the communist Khmer Rouge can help people to apply it to current situations such as North Korea. Reading someone’s experiences in a tyrannical country can help one to greatly understand the experiences of someone in the same situation.

As of 1989, Chanrithy Him has been a researcher for the Khmer Adolescence Project, which is a funded study of PTSD in young Cambodian refugees, much like Him herself. Hearing the stories that she knew so well already inspired her to write her memoir. Chanrithy Him’s story is a way for her to come to terms with her trauma and reveal the horrors that Cambodians faced.

Before reading, I didn’t know all that much about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. I had known of the events, but I wasn’t aware of how horrible they were. I was lucky to be born in a time where I’ve never experienced war in my country. Reading stories like When Broken Glass Floats is important to me. It’s important to read the stories of people around my age who’ve experienced things I could never dream of. I never want to experience the turmoils of war, but I want to educate myself by reading accounts like Chanrithy Him’s.

Knowledge is a good thing. It’s important to know things about the world and people’s experiences. Most are fortunate enough to be able to read whatever they want, so we’re able to consume as much knowledge as possible. For people in situations like the Khmer Rouge, it’s almost impossible.

n  n    “Angka, the organization, suddenly became your mother, your father, your God. But Angka was a tyrannical master. To question anything—whom you could greet, whom you could marry, what words you could use to address relatives, what work you did—meant that you were an enemy to your new ‘parent.’ That was Angka’s rule. To disobey meant the kang prawattasas, the wheel of history, would run over you.”n  n

Chanrithy Him captures the experience of so many young people who experienced genocide. She perfectly encapsulates the fear that so many people felt. The idea of the “wheel of history” was instilled into every child in Cambodia. You didn’t want the wheel of time to outrun you.

This is not a feel-good novel. It’s a horrifying revelation of the Khmer Rouge. Of what it felt to be a child during such a deadly communist regime. Of what it’s like to experience genocide and the murder of your own family.

Chanrithy Him knew exactly what words to use and when so that she could really get you. She used graphic imagery so that readers could truly understand what she experienced. When Broken Glass Floats is a terrific memoir and an educational read. After reading this, I felt empty, mostly because the memoir was absolutely gut-wrenching. It’s horrible to read about a child going through so much. Once I had had time to think, I quickly realized that I liked the memoir, even if it made me sad. If anyone is looking to read a story of death, grief, and great strength, then When Broken Glass Floats is a great choice.

A little conflicted reviewing this one. There is simply no way to give it poor marks because the story is so heart wrenching. I can't even imagine the cruelty and uncertainty these people suffered at the hands of this evil 'government'. I also learned so much about this era of history that I had simply no idea about! The strength and will of this young girl and family is just incredible. I was so moved by her courage and the generosity of so many people who were helpers. It is shocking that such young children were left on their own to survive and managed and even more shocking that these rulers worked these young kids the way they did. This is a story of survival in the grimmest circumstances. At times it moved slowly and felt repetitive but at the same time it skimmed so much. Hard to tell several years of your life in these conditions in a couple hundred pages. There was just an issue of balance. I also wanted to desperately to know what happened once that plan lifted off the ground in Asia and lands in North America. The beginning of the book gives you the brief summary of life after America but I wanted to know about those first few months here in the states in detail like her years in Cambodia. There is no way life was easy for her and her family here and I was interested in that. All in all, a touching tribute to a life that was hard to live!

Since "The Hunger Games" trilogy I haven't read a book that I have a hard time putting down until I read "When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge". After reading this memoir I've thought about asking my parents, mainly my father if he would be willing to share with me about their life during that era. A subject I have avoided for so long and have only heard bits and pieces of. At 33 and after reading this I felt as if I ought to at least know what my parents had to go through to get my five sisters and I here to America. I can't say for sure if I'm ready to revisit my parents' past, but this book is the first step towards that journey. With all that being said, I highly recommend this book!!